


Through Shoals of Dust

by xMidnightSun



Series: Rise & Reign [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 04:39:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2799893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xMidnightSun/pseuds/xMidnightSun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mistakes are made and consequences are wrought, and this time, Axilus is too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through Shoals of Dust

Axilus awoke to his omni-tool buzzing violently against his wrist, its orange glow shattering whatever slight chance he'd had of getting back to sleep in an instant. He groaned and rolled over, waiting for it to pass. Whatever it was, _whoever_ it was, it could wait until the sun had come up. Damn it. No one appreciated insomniacs and the trouble it was to get to sleep.

Six rings later, his omni-tool fell silent and he breathed a sigh of relief, rolling over and closing his eyes. Maybe he could get back to sleep if he just focused-

His omni-tool went off again and he slapped it with a growl, squinting into the vid-comm with flared mandibles. Briefly, he considered turning on the light, but the backlighting from his omni-tool would be more than sufficient, so fuck it. "It's 0200, damn it, this had better be good-"

And just like that, he broke off. The human he was seeing was unfamiliar, though her clothing identified her as a security guard of some sort and her face was creased with concern. He blinked once, twice. What was a human doing calling him? And how had she even gotten his number? "Uh... sorry, who are you?"

The woman glanced down, as if at notes, then looked back up and, instead of replying, asked, "Are you Axilus Madelivio?"

Axilus paused. "How do you know my name?"

"There was an accident involving a quarian today." Axilus felt a chill run down his spine as the woman continued on. "I can't go into detail, but your number was the first we could lift off his omni-tool. Physically, he's fine, but we'd like you to come pick him up from the Jurus colony as soon as possible. He's not responding to any of our attempts to communicate with him, and we can't hold him here for much longer. I'm sorry to ask, but we just don't have the supplies."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." Hadn't the two quarians set off together? There was no reason for them to be apart unless something terrible happened, like- No. They'd probably just separated, like Siri had from the group. Maybe one of them finished his Pilgrimage and returned to the Fleet prior to the call. Yes, that was it. But he still needed to know. Just in case. He fought for the words and eventually wrangled out, "What color is his suit?"

The woman blinked, glancing off-screen for a moment. Axilus swore his heart stopped for a moment. Then she looked back and answered, "Blue, I think."

You think? he wondered, feeling his heart drop into his stomach. That was a terrifically terrible sign. "Uh, good. That's Thie, that's the one I know. Most. Uh. Right. Where did you say you are?"

"Jurus. It's a human colony in the Argus Rho cluster, Minos system." The human looked relieved. "We'll be eagerly awaiting your arrival. Just let us know when your shuttle arrives and-"

"Was there another quarian with him?" Axilus suddenly burst out before he could stop himself. The question had been churning away in his thoughts ever since the woman had mentioned the accident had included "a" quarian, and though he dreaded the answer, it was better to know than to remain ignorant. Especially if the absence of a plural meant what he feared it did.

His heart sunk, his mandibles drooping and eyes widening as the woman flinched away, pointedly didn't answer the question, and simply repeated, "We'll be eagerly awaiting your arrival. Please hurry," before shutting off the comm.

He sat back, eyes wide, then leaped out of bed with all the grace of a fresh-born spirit, nearly tripping over his much-too-long legs as he sprinted for his closet, yanked on the first pair of loose-fitting pants he could, and ran for the door without a word, his drowsiness all but forgotten.

Halfway out the door, he suddenly skidded to a stop, eyes wide as plates, and stabbed at his omni-tool. Forget public shuttles and going alone. He had connections. "Grandpa Octyrus? I need a ride."

* * *

__

_"What's our output look like?" Thie leaned against the back of Kel's chair, watching his hands fly over the forward console like turian chicks chasing after butterflies._

_Kel huffed in frustration. "Too high. The core's using too much energy and dropping too much exhaust all over again. Everything's overheating, we don't have the venting to handle it. It's like it's already going bad, but we know it's not." He slammed his fist into the console, ignoring the angry beeping of the ship's VI as it politely requested that he refrain from abusing the ship. "Damn it, if only this had happened while we were still with Axilus and the others, we could drop by Palaven and ask his mom to fix it."_

_Thie frowned, scanning the readings himself to confirm what he'd already been told, then nodded. "Well, no evading it this time. There's a colony nearby, right?"_

_"Yeah, the..." Kel's hands danced over the holographic keyboard. "The Jurus colony. Human. Couldn't be more than two years old. Should we stop for repairs?"_

_"Or at least see if they'll let us stick around until someone can get here to fix this poor girl up." Thie fondly patted the nearby bulkhead, ignoring Kel's contemptuous snort and grumbling, then nodded. "Bring us into orbit and hail the port. I'll go see if I can rein in the core's emissions enough for suborbital descent. You know, so we don't fry."_

_"You do that." Kel tapped a few keys. "Jurus port, this is the_ Regalus _, requesting permission to land for repairs. Repeat, this is the_ Regalus _, requesting permission to land."_

* * *

"Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit." Cole looked up from his traffic display with wide eyes, glancing over his shoulder. "Ma'am, we have a problem. You really need to come see this."

His supervisor raised an eyebrow but headed over. "What is it?"

She hadn't even gotten close enough to see the display before words were falling out of Cole's mouth. "A dreadnought and her cronies just dropped out of FTL, headed right for us, and they're coming in fast."

His supervisor frowned slightly as she came to stand behind his shoulder. "Do we know who they are?"

"One sec." Cole tapped a few keys, then blanched. "Oh, shit."

His supervisor leaned over his shoulder, growing impossibly pale as Cole read aloud, "The HSV _Albalin_ , flagship of the turian Fifth Fleet, commanded by... Shit. General Octyrus Madelivio. And ma'am, _he's on board."_

* * *

__

_Thie was elbow-deep in the drive core's venting systems when the first alarm began to blare._

_He jumped, dropping the spanner he'd been using with a loud clang that echoed down into the depths of Engineering, and tore one arm free to open a private comm link with Kel, demanding, "What the hell's going on? What did you do?"_

_"I don't know!" Kel sounded confused and nervous, his breathing quickening in what distinctly reminded him of when he had a panic attack. "It isn't the drive core, is it? Did we push it too far?"_

_Thie glanced at his visor's HUD and shook his head. "Not the drive core. Check the alarm, what was the trigger?"_

_"I don't know!" Kel's voice cracked. "I can't find the source!"_

_"Find it! I can't hear a damn thing!" He swore when another alarm joined the first, flinching at the piercing screech. "Damn it, Kel! What's happening?"_

_Over the past few months, Thie had grown quite adept at reading Kel's emotional state from his voice, to the point of being able to clearly envision his face and expressions as he spoke. It came with being a quarian, and with knowing and being in close quarters with someone for just under a year. Which meant that when Kel spoke, the pure, all-consuming terror in his voice translated far more quickly than Thie was comfortable with. "It's the automated defense systems! They're saying we're- we're being targeted!"_

_Thie's eyes widened. "Targeted?" A million thoughts flashed through his mind. Pirates? Slavers? Worse? But they were in the middle of Council space, surely no one would be that stupid. It made no sense. "By who?"_

_Kel's voice was hushed, almost choked. "The colony."_

_And then the first explosion knocked him off his feet._

* * *

Ellaine Stenson fidgeted, watching intently as the dreadnought far above lowered the shuttle bay door, letting out a small shuttle. The people behind her got more and more restless as the shuttle approached. She took a deep breath, bracing herself. With their luck, the ship they'd shot down was a little scouting ship, and now the mother was back for vengeance. The shuttle landed, and she got herself ready to look down the barrel of a military-issue shotgun as the shuttle door opened...

... and a maroon blur shot past her like she wasn't even there.

She, and everyone behind her, spun to follow the blur as it skidded into a turn at the end of the dock. She had no idea how the turian knew where to go. She hoped it was just that somebody had given directions, rather than some weird alien thing it would be offended about if she asked.

She heard somebody utter a quietly disbelieving, "What the fuck?" just before another sound behind her made her blood run cold.

_Clack._

_Clack._

_Clack._

Feeling like she'd been caught in one of those slow-motion shots that littered cheaply-made vids, she turned around.

The biggest turian she'd ever seen in her life stood before her, thick, sweeping facepaint lines gleaming in the light of the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. A large patch on his face, centered around his nose and reaching all the way out to the corners of the space for his eyes, was nearly white, clearly displaying the cracks and lines in his otherwise brown plates. He leaned ever-so-slightly on a long, sturdy-looking cane, but there was no sign of weakness in the sharp gray eyes that glowered at her from beneath lowered brow plates. He was in full dress blues, row upon row of ribbons and medals taunting her from their place on his... did you call it a breast on a turian? Was that appropriate? The side of his cowl, whatever it was called. The general's bars on either shoulder completed the warning: don't you dare fuck with me.

The turian was quiet for a moment, then a low growl ripped out of his mouth with one set of vocals as the other asked in a dangerous, steely tone, "So which of you useless humans wants to stop gaping at my grandson and tell me what happened here?"

* * *

__

_Thie stood up in time for another blast to send him crashing to the floor again, filling his vision with motes of light as his head bounced off a terminal on the way down. He hit the grated floor hard enough to knock him utterly senseless, left him gasping for air._

_He came to minutes later to screaming in his ear. "Thie, navigation's out! I can't do anything!"_

_With a groan, he heaved himself upright, fighting the immediate urge to keel over and empty his stomach onto his visor, and fumbled with his comm. "What do you mean, navigation's out?"_

_"I mean, that last hit killed something! The autopilot, maybe!" He could hear Kel frantically pounding at the unresponsive dashboard even through the tinny comm system, and his heart leaped into his mouth. "I think you can restore manual control to me from Engineering, but you gotta do it quick!"_

_"Oh, Keelah." Thie grit his teeth and staggered for the console, now erratically flashing warnings. A bit late for that, he bitterly thought. "Okay, give me a minute." After a minute of fiddling with the controls, he added, "Kel, I need you to calm down, okay? I think I disabled auto. Take the helm and try to keep her airborne. Look for... for an ocean or something."_

_Kel broke off his frentic panting with a cough, and he didn't need to see him to know he'd nodded. His voice skipped like a glitching VI. "O-okay, I'll- I'll try. Ocean. Okay. I'll try. I'll try."_

* * *

Even after General Madelivio explained that they weren't in trouble with the Hierarchy, and he was just giving a lift to his grandson, Ellaine couldn't bring herself to relax as she and the few of the colonists trained to use the Alliance-issued weapons they'd been given followed him to the medbay. For an obviously elderly man, the general moved fast, almost like he didn't need the cane at all. There was probably some scientific reason for that, but she didn't know it. She was the colony leader, not the head scientist.

The other turian was waiting outside the medbay door, shifting restlessly, constantly switching between standing on his left leg and standing on his right as the deadly talons attached to the ends of his fingers scraped against the plates on the back of his hand. He wasn't wearing gloves, Ellaine noticed, even though he'd apparently had enough thought to hastily dress in what she guessed was probably the turian version of battle dress uniform. The general was wearing gloves. Maybe it was a social thing.

Or, more likely, she supposed, he was so distraught about the quarian in the medbay, he'd forgotten to put them on.

The other turian let out a trilling sort of sound at the sight of the general, fluttering his mandible-things wildly. To her surprise, the general's answering chirr completely lacked the hostility he'd spoken to her with. Some part of her brain dimly reminded her the general said this was his grandson. Apparently turians had hearts under all those spikes and plates. Who knew.

The general glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, mandibles moving in and out slowly. "You'll have to excuse him," he said in a low voice. "He had a bad mission within the past cycle and hasn't quite recovered yet. He's in a rather delicate place mentally. On the way over here, the distress hit him, and he sort of... well. He's a strong kid, but _lumentis_ is never kind."

Ellaine blinked, pulling up her omni-tool to unlock the medbay door. " _Lumentis_ , sir?"

"Battle-madness. Older term for... post-traumatic stress disorder, I think you humans call it. A bad mission worms its way into your head and stays there. I've lost friends to it." He was quiet a moment, then turned to his grandson and made a soft, quiet series of bird-like noises. The younger turian practically teleported to the general's side, letting out a small whine.

The general reached up and twined his fingers with his grandson's, gently tugging the hand that was now sluggishly bleeding where he'd scratched himself down to his side, and made a sort of cooing sound that would have comforted Ellaine herself if it wasn't coming out of General Big Spiky Monster. Then he glanced back at her with a look that could have been apologetic. "If you don't mind, I recommend you wait a moment before coming in, and be very quiet when you do. He's easily startled when he's like this."

Ellaine nodded in mute agreement, and the general turned back to his grandson, making that cooing noise again as he walked him into the medbay.

* * *

__

_There was no ocean on Jurus. Only canyons deeper than the Destiny Ascension was long._

_Thie threw himself to the floor as a chunk of what used to be the_ Regalus _'s wing raked through the engineering compartment, narrowly missing the bundle of hoses trailing from the back of his helmet, and cursed. "Kel!"_

 _He didn't hear the reply, if there was one. The_ Regalus _screamed past the cliff face and smashed into something solid enough to stop her. Thie had just enough time to realize the inertial dampeners had been knocked out cold before he bounced off the ceiling and slammed into the wall, and then-_

* * *

Octyrus was silent as the grave as Axilus approached the quarian sitting on the cot farthest from the door. Practically the moment he'd taken Axilus' hand and felt the blood slowly oozing out of his plates, General Madelivio, monstrous military leader with a bite worse than his bark, had melted away, leaving only Octyrus, grandfather who desperately needed to make sure his grandson would be okay. And Octyrus had no words for the scene unfolding before him.

Given the relative newness of the colony, he had to accept their story that the defense grid had malfunctioned and targeted anything not flagged as Alliance for a half-hour before it could be fixed, and the _Regalus_ had been unlucky enough to approach seeking repairs during that half-hour. The automated defense turrets had done their job as dictated by their glitching programming, and the quarians paid the price. And so he was forced to watch as his grandson circled the little cot, talking to the unresponsive form sitting on it with increasing desperation. _"Thie,"_ he was saying, _"Thie, say something, you gotta say something, Thie, talk to me, please, Thie-!"_

* * *

__

_Everything hurt._

_He staggered to his feet, stumbled into the open. Singed grass crinkled beneath his feet, churned dirt tripping him as he dragged himself away from the smoldering wreck. Distantly, he knew it had to have been at least a little while since the crash, but everything was foggy._

_Something important was missing. He pressed a hand to his head, dimly aware of the blood trickling down his brow and into his eye, but that pain was nothing in comparison. Something was missing. His suit was intact. But something was wrong. He just..._

_Kel._

* * *

It was heartbreaking to see. And even more heartbreaking to watch Axilus' face as he said dully in the closed dialect, _"Axilus, you're using the wrong language. He can't understand you. Switch dialects."_

Spirits, he didn't want to watch this. He could still remember the blunt-taloned infant reaching up to him to ask to play during his _mirogen syromas_ , still remember asking the spirits to bless him with his great-grandmother's luck, still remember praying that this one would be spared the family curse. Apparently, he had- and gotten saddled with something all the worse.

This time, Axilus used the right language, the dialect that translators could recognize. "Thie, are you okay? Thie, please say something!"

* * *

__

_The cockpit was gone._

_A scrap of red fabric fluttered in the slight wind, caught, torn off by the hull's exposed ribbing._

_Coughing violently, ignoring the spatters of ancestors-knew-what that splashed his visor as whatever was clinging to the back of his throat suddenly let go, he staggered towards it._

_Are you okay?_

_Are you okay?_

_Are you okay?_

_Please..._

* * *

The response was immediate. The quarian jumped, then just stared at Axilus with a look more glassy-eyed than Octyrus would have thought possible for anybody living behind a mask.

Axilus whined quietly, then looked up at Octyrus, mandibles fluttering in distress. "Grandpa, what's wrong with him? Why won't he talk to me?"

Octyrus tried very hard not to let out a sigh as he slowly, quietly walked over to Axilus and the quarian. "It's okay, Axilus," he soothed, taking his grandson's bleeding hand again. "He's been through a traumatic experience. He'll be alright. He just needs time. We'll get him somewhere safe, somewhere quiet where he can recover."

Axilus let out the most pathetic snuffle Octyrus had ever heard come out of him, even during the child's infancy. "Like Mom's place?"

Octyrus' heart ached, but he managed to keep the quaver out of his voice as he said, "Yes, like your mother's place. It'll be okay, Axilus. I promise. On my honor as a general of the Hierarchy, I promise you that everything will be okay."

Axilus was quiet a moment, then pushed his head up under Octyrus', a gesture he hadn't displayed since his age was a single digit. He whimpered softly, nuzzling slowly in an attempt to seek comfort.

Octyrus forced down the heavy sigh he badly wanted to heave, instead wrapping his arms around his grandson and hugging him tight, adding in a gentle rock to soothe him. Axilus was distressed enough without having to hear him complain. "Go wait by the door," he said gently. "Let me talk to him, then you can help him back to the shuttle, alright?"

Axilus whimpered but obeyed, wriggling away from his grandfather's grasp and trotting away to wait as told. Octyrus let himself sigh just a tiny bit, then slowly approached the quarian on the cot, bending his legs to reduce how intimidating he would come across as. "Thie'Haasn, I want you to listen to me," he began, careful to keep his voice low and neutral.

* * *

__

_He called out, gagged and coughed on the ragged tearing in his throat as something that smelled like metal and tasted bitter smeared the inside of his visor. Tried again. Had to find Kel. Had to get out. Find help. Had to._

_A low groan echoed from beyond a pile of scrap and he staggered towards it, almost collapsing as his bad leg nearly gave out. Stumbled to his feet, leaning heavily against a chunk of what used to be the hull as he dragged himself towards the noise. He coughed viciously again. He couldn't speak. Couldn't call._

_And then the pain vanished as he recognized-_

* * *

"My name is Octyrus Madelivio. I'm Axilus' grandfather. We met at Axilus' birthday a while ago."

* * *

__

_"Kel!" he choked out, staggering to his side. The disorientation was gone, replaced by pure adrenaline that thundered in his ears. The other quarian groaned and rolled his head to the side._

_It was the most he could move. A torn section of the hull rested atop his chest, bits and pieces of the forward console pinning his arms and one leg to the ground. Thie was relieved to see that his mask hadn't been cracked by the impact, though the relief was short-lived once he noticed the sheer amount of blood pooling on the ground beneath him._

_Thie felt the color flood from his face, his overwhelming relief replaced by paralyzing fear. Kel was hurt._

_Bad._

_"Thie?" Kel sounded disoriented, dazed. Probably the only reason he wasn't screaming in pain. "What happened...?"_

_"Hold on, I'll- I'll get you out of there..!"_

_Had to move had to hurry call for help get him out before he-_

* * *

"Do you remember me?"

__

_The illusion shattered. Familiar that voice that name that memory was familiar he reached for it grasped it tight with tired fingers couldn't let it go wouldn't let it go not this time. Look listen ignore the rest don't think about before._

The quarian seemed to be paying attention to him. That was a good sign. "We're going to take you back to Palaven, alright?" he continued. "We can get you decent medical treatment there, better than whatever this colony can provide. My son and daughter-in-law can provide you somewhere quiet and safe to stay, and if they don't, you're welcome to stay with me and my wife. You remember Corinn, don't you? She visited you while you were in the hospital after your reimplantation surgery. She said you were a wonderful patient, much better than most turians she has to deal with. She'd love to see you again and know how you're doing. Do you think you could do that? Come back to Palaven with us and stay awhile?"

He quieted and counted his heartbeats. One.

__

_Out get out leave the memories behind let them let you forget._

Two.

__

_It's safe they're safe it's all safe just don't think about it._

The third was half-complete when the quarian slowly nodded.

It was a long, slow walk back to the shuttle. Axilus had one hand on the quarian's forearm and the other at the small of his back, coaxing him along one step at a time. Octyrus watched, hands folded neatly behind his back and cane hooked loosely over one wrist. Somewhere to his side, at what could be considered more than a respectful distance and edging on a fearful one, stood the human woman who had greeted him upon arrival. Ellaine Stenson, that was her name. He could feel her eyes on his back, her relief at the peaceful resolution almost tangible in the air. He couldn't blame her. Only nine years out from Shanxi, and suddenly there's a dreadnought and her pack in orbit over their tiny colony because they shot down a single ship on accident. In hindsight, that may or may not have been a bad idea. Oh, well. It got the message across: he was not to be argued with, and this was a Very Serious Matter(tm).

The leader cleared her throat. "So, you'll be headed back to Palaven, then?"

The relief came across in her voice despite the lack of subvocals. Octyrus had always thought that was a serious hindsight on evolution's part for other species, and it was no different with humans. "Yes. I'd prefer to be back before someone thinks to check on where the ships all are and notices we're on the opposite side of the Traverse from turian space." And he hated ceremonial dress and would prefer to be out of it as soon as possible, but she didn't need to know that. "Besides, Haasn requires better care than what a backwater human colony can provide him."

The human started to bristle, like she did not, in fact, realize that any backwater colony, much less one belonging to the newest species on the galactic stage, couldn't provide the proper care for a quarian in any case. "Sir, with all due respect-"

Octyrus held up a hand and lowered his mandibles, tilting his head forward just enough to display his crest. A human wouldn't recognize the gesture for its exact meaning, but it had the intended effect. She backed away a couple steps, and just like that, General Madelivio was back in command, Octyrus taking a backseat. "I have been alive since before your kind settled your own moon, and I've been in the military since before you moved beyond your own planet's orbit. I have survived being thrown through a building by shockwaves from a weapon of mass destruction, I spent weeks in a hospital recovering from said blast while suffering from post-traumatic anterograde amnesia, and I married a doctor. I think I know what qualifies as 'adequate medical facilities,' Miss Stenson."

Her jaw moved up and down for a moment, apparently at a loss for words, then stammered out, "Of course, sir, I didn't mean to offend-"

He waved his hand and settled back into a more relaxed posture. "No offense taken. Now, if you have no more objections, this quarian needs proper medical attention, I need to call my wife, and my grandson needs to get back to his parents. Good day, Miss Stenson."

He straightened his back and marched sharply back to the shuttle, flicking a mandible reassuringly when Axilus gave him a nervously respectful little bow.

He'd just taken his seat and propped his cane on the wall beside him when Axilus apparently remembered something and looked around. "Wait!" He looked to the quarian, mandibles fluttering in distress. "Thie, where's Kel?"

Thie went rigid.

__

_wait_

_wait where's_

_thie where's_

**_Kel_**

* * *

__

_He tried to push the debris away so he could pull Kel from beneath it. His hands glowed with the ghost of biotic energy, back of his skull tingling as he heaved. Didn't realize until he'd lifted it several inches that Kel was screaming._

_The agonized cries still echoed through his skull as he dropped the slab of hull like a hot coal, pulse throbbing in his ears as he fumbled with his omni-tool, tried to hack Kel's suit with shaking hands, to inject some sort of painkiller to make the screaming stop._

_He tried to apologize. Fumbled with the omni-tool until Kel's cries had ceased, replaced by ragged sobs as the halo of numbness descended over him._

_Waited until he'd closed his eyes. Bit his lip, stood, channeled all the biotic power he had left for one last surge of strength._

_The scrap of hull tumbled aside._

* * *

The quarian collapsed to the floor of the shuttle.

Axilus jumped to his feet at the same moment Octyrus slid out of his seat into a crouch by the quarian. "Thie?" Axilus asked, a note of hysteria creeping into his subvocals. "Thie!"

"Axilus, hush," Octyrus scolded, mandibles flaring out wide. To his relief, Axilus quieted immediately, and he continued, "Panicking will only make the situation worse. Sit down and take a few deep breaths. I'll get him back to his seat."

* * *

__

_the hull's exposed spines shone with blood and gore and bits of things he couldn't no wouldn't recognize and he fell to his knees thanking the ancestors the angle kept kel from seeing the glistening towers of reddened silver serenely protruding like chrome flowers in a gory garden thanking the ancestors he didn't feel it didn't scream_

_no no no there was no way no way no way_

* * *

Axilus whined. "But, sir-"

"Don't argue, soldier," Octyrus snapped. The look of terror that flitted through Axilus' eyes pained him to see, but it had to be done. He didn't need to be dividing his attention at the moment. "Sit down and do as you're told."

He hit the button for the shuttle doors to close, then watched to make sure Axilus obeyed before looking back down at the quarian at his feet.

* * *

__

_too much blood emergency services would take too long medi-gel wouldn't stop the bleeding infection blood loss so much too much no chance punctured lungs mutilated no no no no way kel wasn't going to survive this one he was going to die here he was going to die and he was going to feel it-_

_Thie's hands shook as they closed around Siri's pistol- want you to have it i'm always with you keep you safe- pulling it from Kel's mutilated hip holster, the bloodied grip slipping in his trembling fingers._

_want to join the idenna want to come back want to live too young doesn't deserve this can't let him suffer won't let him suffer he doesn't deserve it_

* * *

He'd curled up in a tight little ball and was whimpering words his translator couldn't quite catch. Closed dialect. Lovely. At least he could still communicate with turians who went into that sort of state...

He huffed under his breath and let one hand hover over the quarian's shoulder, not wanting to startle him. Words would probably be useless at the moment, anyway. Instead he took a deep breath, then let it out in a deep, low, wordless thrum. If it could work on asari as well as turians, it would work on a quarian. Besides, he vaguely remembered a quarian who'd hitched a ride on his ship back when he was a lieutenant saying something about the sound of the drive core being comforting, and he supposed the thrum was relatively close to drive core noises. Closer than talking, anyway.

* * *

__

_make it quick make it painless he doesn't deserve to suffer he doesn't deserve to doesn't deserve to DOESN'T DESERVE-_

_Kel looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes as the barrel of the pistol gently bumped his visor. Thie didn't look away. Couldn't. His voice quivered with fear and pain and hopeless confusion as he whispered, "Thie...?"_

_don't look doesn't deserve to don't doesn't deserve DOESN'T DESERVE THIS look don't look i'm sorry i'm so sorry close your eyes don't see so so so sorry don't watch doesn't deserve-_

_His finger tightened on the trigger and-_

_i'm so sorry kel_

* * *

The quarian slowly stilled, then made a choked, awful little noise, followed by a series of high-pitched ones that brought back hazy memories of chicks with their favorite toys demolished or their foot smashed by a table that didn't want to jump out of the way. Crying. So that was what it sounded like coming out of a quarian.

He shook his head slightly. His wife and daughter-in-law could lament the loss of scientific data all they wanted, that wasn't important at the moment. If there was one thing his children had taught him, there wasn't much he could do now but wait. He very carefully picked up the tense ball of quarian, moved him to the far corner of the shuttle, and took a seat next to his grandson to grip his hand tight for the remainder of the flight back to the Albalin.

Axilus keened deep in the back of his throat and Octyrus turned his head as he asked, "Is he going to be all right?"

Octyrus considered the question for a long time, turning back to watch the quivering quarian with thoughtful eyes. Then he squeezed his grandson's hand and gave a soft, soothing trill. "I hope so, Axilus. I hope so."

 

**Author's Note:**

> [evil laughter]
> 
> Sorry for the jumpy perspective changes, it fit what was going on too well.


End file.
